Season Eight Our Way: Power
by thebuffyettes
Summary: Since Buffy and the gang destroyed Sunndydale, and gave every wouldbe slayer the power to be, hell has been breaking loose. slayers are fighting slayers, slayers are organizing, and on top of all of this: a new evil is brewing!


**Season Eight Our Way: POWER**

**Episode 1: A New Home**

**AN: Welcome to our new story! We hope you enjoy!**

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"What're you going to do now Buffy?"

Those simple words had echoed through the slayer's mind so many times- repeating and repeating, even up to this very day. They never left her mind, as much as she wanted them too. But, she had no answers to that question yet. Well, none that pleased her; and it was now mid-October, five months since the place she loved had been completely destroyed, erupting into a crater of debris. She had lost pretty much everything when Sunnydale had gone away: her home, her mother's grave, and even the places she'd experienced so many things that were nothing more than memorable. Almost everything she had to show for was gone. Everything, swept away, even some of her friends -- but that wasn't until they'd all began looking for a new home. A new place that they could make a difference in. Because, that was their destinies - to fight evil, save lives, and make a difference. That was what they would continue to do. Even if they weren't exactly the Scooby Gang anymore.

The Slayer hadn't ended up alone though, like she swore she would when everything was done for. Because, in prophecies, the Slayer was supposed to be alone, but Buffy Summers always did her best to prove it wrong. She still had Willow Rosenberg, her redheaded best friend, who'd stayed by her side when the others went out and did their thing. She thought it would be selfish to had asked for more -- possibly a real family, true love (who wouldn't ditch her and leave town), and even maybe a puppy named Fido. She still desired a normal life -- so badly that she could taste it.

"Well, not taste it. I mean, does normal even have a taste?" The Slayer asked herself aloud.

Whether it did or not, it wouldn't change anything. Yes, she was now only one of thousands of slayers, who could pretty much do the evil fighting themselves. But, she'd been fighting the forces of evil since she was 15. It was the only thing she knew how to do -- and how to do it good. She wanted the change -- to act normal -- as normal as possible. It was just so difficult; after fighting so long, what was she was supposed to do next? That simple thought sent images of passed times jolting into her head -- memories.

**Sunnydale, California. 2 years prior.**

Dawn Summers slowly walked across the stage in the Sunnydale hotspot, The Bronze. Sweet, the singing demon who had been their major enemy that week, had easily been defeated. He'd came -- summoned by their own goofy, Xander Harris looking for a "happy ending" and then he'd easily gone. But, just like every other demon the Scooby Gang had faced, he did his damage while he was around. He allowed everyone of the Scooby Gang admit how they felt about each other and things in song -- allowed everyone to know that Buffy had been lying about being in hell. She'd been in Heaven -- in a loving embrace she found nowhere else. She had been free, with her mom, and complete with happiness. Until she was ripped out by Willow, who only wanted the best for her friend. She didn't know Buffy wasn't suffering, but living in paradise without them and it tore her up inside. She let everyone know that as the tears glazed her eyes and then slide down her rosy, red cheeks. The group was silent, shocked by what had been revealed to them. None of them could say a word and the Slayer couldn't even force herself to send a glance in the direction of her friends, who'd made her live in hell once more. Thoughts rushed in each of their minds: Anya, Xander, Giles, Buffy, Dawn, Tara, Willow, and even the soulless vampire Spike.

_Where do we go from here?_

The music in their ears began to ring, a soft, gentle tune after Dawn's voice sang the first line of yet another song they would sing -- the last song for the group. The rest of the Scoobies except for the youngest stood on the dance floor of the Bronze, nothing more than 5 feet away from one another. Buffy's gaze rose as Spike's did and they caught each other's eyes for only a moment before they glanced back down to their feet.

_Where do we go from here?_

Their gazes lifted upon each other as they began singing along, having no choice but to do so.

_Where do we go from here?_

_The battle's done._

_And we've kind of won._

_So we sound our victory cheer._

_Where do we go from here?_

Their voices drenched in emotion and got louder as the tune in their ears did. They didn't know what they were supposed to sing in their minds but they sang every simple word that came from the heart as if they were puppets. There were no scripts and no planning. It was all just from the heart. The gang began to shuffle, moving towards each other.

_Why is the path unclear?_

_When we know home is near..._

They lined themselves up intentionally, first Buffy, then Spike, followed by Dawn, Giles, Anya, Xander, Tara, and Willow. Every hand that rested near another grabbed hold and they continued to play puppets, singing to a next verse.

_Understand, we'll go hand and hand. _

_But we'll walk alone in fear._

_Tell me..._

_Where do we go from here?_

Their hands released from the grips put upon them and the line immediately broke apart. The gang began to shuffle again, separating themselves feet from each other. Their eyes stared blankly at items in front of them, from the floor to each other, to walls and whatever was visible. Turning suddenly with the music, they all faced front, glancing at the stage where Sweet once stood before puffing into a sparkling, reddish line of magic. Their hands raised, making a wiping motion at the air as they sang yet again.

_When does, "The End" appear? _

_When do the trumpets cheer? _

_The curtains close on a kiss God knows._

_We can tell the end is near..._

_Where do we go from here?_

_Where do we go from here?_

_Where we go from here?_

**Present day. **

The Slayer's eyes opened as the memory slowly faded from her mind, shivers moving through her body. That was how she felt all over again -- like she had no guidance and didn't know what to do. Yet again in her life, she felt lost. She didn't have all of her friends to help her through. Spike had been lost in the final battle and a lot of the other slayers were doing the job she once did alone. She felt like every purpose she had was no longer. That her destiny was complete. But, she kept living. What was there to do next? Glancing out at the sunset, the slayer let out another sigh. The sun went down and the monsters would come out. Especially since their new home was near yet another Hellmouth in the one and only, Cleveland, Ohio. That was right. Cleveland. They remained in the United States while the others split up into other areas, such as Scotland or England.

A gust of wind blew, goose bumps forming upon the slayer's arms. The sight in front of her was gorgeous. There were hills and what looked like mountains from where she sat, visible in the distance. The hills were covered with tall patches of green grass, reminding her of something that would come out of a farm movie. All needed was a big red barn and a farmer. Maybe a cow or two. Maybe some ducks. She liked ducks. Aside from that, the sunset was a dark orange, causing her to think of the rust on the old Sunnydale park swings. She missed her home so much. She missed everything. Her eyes remained on the lowering sun, a frown playing on her lips. The only noises she could hear while she sat on the steps of the porch were crickets and -- footsteps?

Willow Rosenberg, the beautiful red headed best friend of the slayer walked out of the front door of their shared home, noticing Buffy sitting on the steps of the porch. She took a seat next to Buffy and gazed at the blonde slayer with a small smile. Gently tucking a lock of hair behind the slayer's earlobe, she nodded.

"It's almost time to go. The sun's going all-poof. Which means that the demons will go all-GRRGH!" The Witch spoke as she looked at the sun and folded her arms at the chilly breeze, "I got a call from Xander in England. He says he's fine. That and there's a nest that they're going to take out tonight...or this morning...I don't know. England time always confuses me."

"England time, huh? We should get a book." The slayer returned suggestively, glancing over at the redhead with a small smile, "Books are good."

"Books are good." Willow agreed before glancing at Buffy again. "It's amazing." She kept her green eyes on the slayer only a moment longer before returning them to the setting sun that would initiate another attack against evil.

"Huh? Amazing? What's amazing?"

"It's amazing. That after all of these years. We're all still alive and standing. You, me, Xander, and Giles. The Scooby Gang..." The sun was barely visible as it was almost completely hidden by the distant hills. She quickly glanced back at Buffy and spoke again, "So have you talked to Angel yet? Since we saved the world. Okay, well, not saved the world, but gave it more slayers?"

Buffy sighed at the mention of Angel, her first love. The man she'd given her innocence too and then almost got killed by. The man who loved her, but yet left her, "No talking, actually. I've left him a couple messages. He's always busy when I try to contact him. I really hope he's alright. Wait...do you think he's avoiding me?" The slayer's eyes widened and she shifted her body to look directly at Willow, "Oh my god!? Is he avoiding me? Never mind. He might not be. Maybe he's busy. It's just he normally returns my calls..."

"Maybe he is, Buffy." Buffy's eyes had widened, alerting the witch she had to say something. "Oh no! Not ignoring you! I mean maybe he is you know...busy. Heh.." The witch replied before she glanced at the hills again while rising up to her feet. She glanced down at the blonde and sent her a final smile.

"Sun's down. You ready?"

Buffy let another sigh release from her lips. Now, her mind had been plagued with thoughts of Angel and everyone in Los Angeles. Thoughts of Xander and Giles played along too. Was this ever going to get any better for her? Gazing up at the witch, she nodded her head in return before she also rose from her spot on the steps.

"Yeah. Wouldn't need to get attacked by anything. Though, that kind of is our typical Saturday night routine. Oh, and milkshakes. We're getting milkshakes, right?"

"Well, if the night goes well." Willow walked back towards the door and waited for Buffy to follow, "Let's go get the girls and get all supply-ee."

"I agree with the supply-ee. I rhymed. Ooo, that--"

That was when the frightening growling came from behind them. Buffy recognized the sound, a sound she'd heard so many times before. A vampire. Of course. It had to be a vampire. They couldn't have laughed off a joke and just walked inside, no. They had to fight. Well, she had to fight. She wouldn't allow Willow to get involved unless needed-be. But, she knew she could handle one simple vampire. Letting out a sigh, she shook her head and reached into the pocket of her leather jacket.

"--That was totally unexpected, but definitely something that would happen to me. Buffy Summers. The slayer who never gets a break to even RHYME." She spat sarcastically, a snicker following her sentence before she glanced at the redhead, halfway through the doorway, "Go on in. I'll be right there."

"Ok. I'll see you in a few with weapons and girls at your disposal." Willow smiled with a nod, glancing at the sad vampire with a shake of her head. She was then quick to turn and walk inside the home, knowing the slayer could handle her own.

Buffy waited for the witch to leave before she turned to glance at the vampire. He was tall, maybe topping six feet. He had no hair, on his head at least. He was bald, with a long beard growing on his chin. She grimaced, taking a hold of the stake in her pocket and pulling out. She used the moonlight to reveal the weapon to the creature while she held it tightly, knowing he would attack, "You sure you wanna do this? I mean. Pointy stick... Vampire... Never ends up well for you guys. Plus... There's only one of you and it'll take me probably a minute to slay you. So you can choose to run now, or stay and meet your doom...But choose fast. I don't have all night."

The vampire just grinned a wicked grin, revealing two long fangs to the blonde. Uck. If they had toothbrushes for humans and dogs, why couldn't they have them for demons? It would totally make everything a lot better for the slayer. Standing her ground, the vampire moved forward a step at the most before he yelled something the slayer couldn't make out. Something like, "Uruck!"

"Uruck, huh? I don't speak Cling-on. But my friend Andrew does. If you could give me maybe...10 minutes to call him, I could translate and we could converse like super geeks. How 'bout that offer?"

The vampire still would not say anything; nor would he move. So, okay. This was beginning to bother her. Why couldn't he be like all the other vampires and just attack so she could stick the stake in him and go back to her weird life? She really found it more fun when the enemy made the first move. Shaking her head in unsatisfaction, she jumped off the porch, leaving her about 10 feet away from the bald vampire, "Okay. Can we start now or--."

Interrupted. Again. By another growl. And another. And another. But, the bad part about it? They weren't coming from Mr. Clean the bald vampire. They were coming from all sides. Glancing around to examine the noises, she began to spot vampires of sorts coming out of the darkness. From the direction of the hills, even from the sides of her house. This was just delightful now wasn't it? Grimacing again, she gripped the stake tight enough she thought it would splinter her hand and make it bleed. She hated being in situations like these. When all the vampires had closed in, there were maybe 10 at the maximum. Still too many for the slayer to fight off alone.

"So...you brought some friends? Well. I think I have a friend or two who would love to join me out here. I wouldn't want your friends to be lonely while we wrestled..." The slayer hesitated no longer before she bellowed, "WILLOW!"

Willow was only ten feet away from the door when she heard her friend scream. She quickly ran to the stairs that were at her left and yelled up them, not bothering to go to Buffy first, "KENNEDY, CECILY, MAGGIE! GET DOWN HERE NOW!"

She turned and glanced at the weapons chest that was conveniently beside the door. Her eyes turned a bright white shade and soon weapons were flying out of the chest and floating in mid-air. The three slayers, Kennedy, Cecily, and Maggie, ran downstairs, the sound of loud footsteps following them. Once they made it to the bottom, they were quick to run in Willow's direction, snatching a floating weapon out of the air. A sword for Kennedy, a battle axe for Cecily, and a crossbow for Maggie. The witch pointed in the direction of the door and the girls ran out. Willow, still white in the eyes, walked over towards the weapons chest and grabbed the mystical scythe that unleashed the power of the Slayer just months ago. Once her hand touched the scythe her eyes went back to normal and she ran outside to aide her friends.

Willow, now outside, yelled, "Buffy! Here's from your number one fan!" That's when the scythe was hurled through the air in the direction of the blonde.

Hearing Willow's voice, the slayer rose her hand. She could hear the scythe whistling through the air as it came in her direction. Once the whistling got close, she snatched the handle. Perfect timing. Now, it was on. Turning towards the bald vampire, she swung the scythe in his direction, but he was quick to duck what would have lead to his decapitation. That was fine. Now, she could be more creative with the kill. While the vampire crouched, she brought her foot up, kicking him roughly in the bridge of his nose. The yelp of pain was all she needed before she spun her body, sending a spinning heel kick to the side of Mr. Clean's head. A thud emitted from the impact of his body smacking onto the ground and Buffy brought the stake end of the scythe down -- the dust quick to fall.

Willow stood at the porch of the house and surveyed the battle. She pointed and psychically sent orders into each of the slayer's minds. While she was watching the battle a vampire took her by surprise and scratched her cheek. Willow jumped out of the way and quickly got into a fighting stance, knowing it was every man for themselves. Or, woman. She touched her cheek gently and pulled it back looking at the blood that the vampire had drawn. The vampire growled at her and licked his lips at the sight of her blood, the blood he craved. She waved her hand over her face and magically the cut had disappeared, faded. "Now you…you should know better than to piss off a witch."

The vampire looked at Willow as if she were on drugs, "Who the hell are you to tell me who the hell I should piss off?"

Willow was quick to laugh with the vampire's comment and her eyes whitened again. She clenched her fists and immediately green energies started circling her hands. "I'm your worst nightmare!"

The vampire lunged towards her without anymore pause. He wanted her blood so badly. Willow waved her hands and whispered beneath her breath, "Contego."

Out of nowhere a green shield materialized in front of Willow, shielding her from the attack. She glanced angrily at the creature before she ran over to it and punched it in the face. Hand to hand combat came in handy sometimes. Grinning, she then yelled, "Concremo!" After uttering the simple word, her hands glowed again before they spit out fire at the vampire. The flames were quick to consume the vampire attacker, who was a large one at that. The vampire screamed in agony as it was dwindled down to dust. Once the thing blew in the wind, the witch looked around until her eyes rested on Buffy, who had just dusted yet another one of the creatures.

"One down...many to go! We better be getting milkshakes for this!"

Away from Willow in her own battle with two of the fiends, Kennedy heard the witch shout and was quick to comment back, "That sounds very tasty right about now!"

Both creatures cornered the slayer, baring their fangs as if they were warning her for what was to come. They tried to intimidate her, but ever since the Sunnydale battle, she figured she could see nothing scarier than the sight she saw inside the Hellmouth. She was grateful to even had made it out alive. Being a small girl, a petite figure with long brown hair to top it off, didn't make her look strong at all. Her personality of a bad ass chick was the really only intimidating thing about her, "Listen boys… your fangs don't scare me! Now who's first?"

That's when both vampires lept at her. Kennedy ducked and somersaulted beneath them. When she stood up they were where she had just been. Perfect. She glared at one and jabbed at him with the sword, penetrating his flesh with the sharp tip. She missed the heart, but she didn't care. Fighting was fun. And as long as you were the one who lived and came out of the fight then-whatever. Let the best man win. She would, of course, come out on top.

Kennedy used her other hand and punched the vampire that had not yet be harmed by her. It fell to the ground roughly, smacking onto the grass and dragging up dirt and green cuts as it did so. So, she would use this as her opportunity to attack its already bleeding friend. This vampire wasn't entirely tough to beat, seeing how he had already been wounded moments before. All it took was two punches to its head and a swing of her sword. The head of the second vampire fell to the ground as its body reduced itself to ashes.

She took a moment to bask in her victory, but to her dismay this was not a wise choice. The vampire she had knocked to the ground had gotten back up and connected his fist with her face. BOW. She fell to the ground and boy, it did hurt. Pain jolted through the area of her face and her body now throbbed from the impact to the ground The vampire knelt down, getting ready for the kill. His fangs were inches from her throat, drawing closer with each passing moment. But, she wouldn't be an easy kill. No slayers were. She quickly pushed him off with her arms and kicked herself back up. She had sprung successfully to her feet. The enemy and the defended glared angrily at each other, standing their ground and waiting for the other to attack. But, she was tired of playing the staring game. She rose her arms and swung the sharp sword, but the vampire evaded them. It threw furious kicks and punches at Kennedy, but she had easily blocked them. She was tired of fighting this guy. It was time to think outside the box and bring the vampire to his demise. Swiping her foot out, she kicked the vampire in the back of the leg, causing him to drop. It was her moment. Swiping the sword down, the blade caught the creature's neck and just like the rest, the ashes fell. The adrenaline was rushing and all Kennedy wanted to do was fight some more.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. That's how it all ended. Cecily, the average sized, blonde haired girl, finished off the last of the attackers and the Slayers were all now out of breath. They'd all made it through the simple battle with maybe a cut or bruise for each of them. But, no pain, no gain. Well, at least that's what Buffy thought.

"Well, can't say that was my easiest fight..."

"Tough guys." Kennedy was quick to state the obvious, digging the tip of the sword into the dirt.

Maggie tucked a lock of curly, black hair behind her ear and she looked down at the ground. She was kind of a shy girl, Buffy had noticed, but it was understandable. The girl had come all the way from Ireland to find out she was destined to fight demons, "I thought they were pretty easy..."

"I agree." Cecily was quick to jump in on the wagon.

"Well, that was some fight. I think I did good. I think I and the rest of us deserve a yummy milkshake of kinds." Willow nodded proudly, beaming at the slayers.

"I'm sooo in." Buffy returned, making her way over to the porch steps, "Lets all get cleaned up and fill our bellies with the yumminess of ice cream."

Kennedy, Cecily, and Maggie began their way over to the porch, following each other up them one after the other. They all talked amongst themselves while they made their way into the house, the witch following close behind. Buffy stepped onto the porch and she gazed over her shoulder at the hidden hills. Letting out another final sigh, she turned and she walked inside the house. In the back of her mind, she knew that she would have to adjust; this was her new home.

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**AN: We hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review and tell us what you think!**


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